French members of the Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI) secure the area during a search operation at the Ozanam housing estate in Carcassonne, southwestern France on March 23, following the shooting dead by French security officers of an armed hostage taker who is believed to have links to the estate. Sixteen people were wounded, two seriously, along with the three killed in a shooting spree in southwest France by a man claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group, President Emmanuel Macron said. The gunman - a 26-year-old drug dealer monitored as a possible Islamic extremist - carried out three separate shootings, ending his rampage by taking hostages at a supermarket in the near by town of Trebes.
Photo by AFP
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.